KARACHI: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Saturday urged stronger cybersecurity measures across Pakistan’s financial sector as digital banking expands and cyber threats grow more sophisticated, according to an official statement.
Aurangzeb chaired a virtual meeting with chief executives of commercial banks and their chief information security officers to review the situation and coordinate responses against emerging cybersecurity challenges.
“As Pakistan’s financial ecosystem continues to digitize, strengthening cyber resilience must remain a central policy priority,” the Finance Division quoted Aurangzeb as saying in a statement circulated after the meeting.
The participants were briefed on the evolving threat landscape, including the growing use of artificial intelligence to identify vulnerabilities, develop exploits and carry out complex, multi-stage cyberattacks at speed.
They also discussed international trends, citing recent incidents in countries such as Japan and India where digital financial systems have faced rising cyber risks, and noted that global regulators are increasingly treating such threats as systemic concerns.
Aurangzeb called for closer coordination between regulators, financial institutions and technical teams, urging the State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan Banks’ Association to review existing frameworks, identify gaps and develop actionable recommendations.
He emphasized a phased approach to strengthening cyber defenses, focusing on immediate risk mitigation, medium-term capacity building and long-term resilience.
The meeting also highlighted the need to improve threat intelligence sharing, address vulnerabilities in legacy systems and adopt emerging technologies to strengthen detection and response mechanisms.
